The Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) has paid out R14.5 million to 3 259 former teaching and general assistants after resuming with its campaign in KwaZulu-Natal last week.
The payments were disbursed between 9 and 13 January 2023 when the UIF continued the major campaign in the Zululand District Municipality.
The campaign started in November last year under Amajuba District Municipality, where the Fund disbursed R7.7 million to 1 746 former educator assistants and general assistants.
It proceeded to eThekwini and Pinetown in December 2022, where R28.8 million was paid out to 6 204 beneficiaries.
“To date, a cumulative R51.5 million has been paid out to 11 209 beneficiaries, who were employed in the aforementioned districts.
“From 16 – 20 January 2023, the Fund will continue with processing and paying out claims in areas around the Zululand District Municipality as follows: 16 – 17 January 2023: Bhekuzulu High School in Nongoma; 18 – 19 January 2023: Pongola Akademie, and 20 January 2023: Paulpietersburg Primary School,” the Department of Employment and Labour said on Monday.
The department has urged clients to bring along a valid Identity or Passport Document, a fully charged smartphone with data, and proof of banking details.
“To enhance the employment prospects of former teaching and general assistants, the Department of Employment and Labour’s Public Employment Services (PES) branch has been contributing to the campaign by registering the CVs of the unemployed clients on the Employment Services of South Africa (ESSA) system for possible jobs.
“ESSA is a system where work seekers can register their CVs for possible jobs and also search and apply for new job opportunities. Employers are urged to register and advertise vacancies of their organisations on the system for free,” the department said.
The system can be accessed on https://essa.labour.gov.za/EssaOnline/WebBeans/.
The former teaching and general assistants were employed as part of the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI), which was implemented as part of the Basic Education Employment Initiative (BEEI) – across all nine provinces – to reduce youth unemployment in the country.
When their contracts ended, the former employees qualified to claim unemployment insurance benefits from the UIF.
Due to the large volume of claims anticipated and to prevent long queues at Labour Centres, the UIF team in KwaZulu-Natal met with the Provincial Department of Education and agreed on a consolidated approach.
This includes the department availing venues, while the Fund confirms the compliance of the former workers in terms of their employment history, declarations and contributions.
The UIF in KwaZulu-Natal will be rolling out the project to other parts of the province and will announce dates and details in due course via its social media platforms and the media.